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The Mentalist Review: The Broken Memory Palace

"Red, White, and Blue" was a standard filler episode for The Mentalist. But an enjoyable one nevertheless.

The murder investigation highlighted some serious issues facing today's military. The first was sexual harassment against its female members. The ability to file an anonymous claim certainly seemed to have as many drawbacks as advantages. In the end, if no one is willing to officially come forward, then the claim goes nowhere.

I really appreciated that Cho took the lead in this part of the investigation because he's the person on the team with a military background. As he was quick to remind Hawkins in this The Mentalist quote…

The next time you ask someone in this unit to watch your back you might want to remember how you watched hers. | permalink

Considering one woman under Hawkins command was killed and another was sexually harassed, it appeared he needed to take a little more responsibility for what was going on in his unit.

The other issue was the number of soldiers coming back with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. I was amazed by Pete's battle to get through every day.

Of course Jane was the perfect person to go to for anything concerning memory. I was relieved when Jane finally got around to telling Pete about his memory palace. I felt like I'd waited the entire episode for him to get to that moment.

But Jane was great in several scenes, my favorite of which was when he thanked the soldiers for their service in his own very Patrick Jane way.

The other was when he hypnotized Pete so he could sleep. I loved it when Jane uses his skills for good instead of evil and, even though he tricked Pete, in the end it was for the greater good. Not to mention the poor man finally got some decent sleep.

The killer was such a selfish, arrogant, jackass. He thought slashing some innocent woman's throat was the appropriate response to having to pay alimony to his ex-wife. Well, that and covering up his illegal prescription drug side business but off course that was his ex's fault too.

The best line of the night went to Rigsby who told the good doctor…

Look on the bright side. In prison you won't have to pay for dates. | permalink

After the drama of losing Lorelei last Sunday, what do you think of this week's The Mentalist? Sound off now and then take a look ahead to next Sunday:

@rationalgal the idea of kristina frye participating in the murder of jane's family is horrifying and fascinating. at the time of kristina, we had had the experience of rebecca, bosco's assistant suddenly turning into a monster. but i didn't think about kristina in that way. now with lorelei and looks like a holy host of others being part of rj's team, it would make perfect sense that kristina was his from the start. it's now part of the series' vocabulary. so if we spin this, was she supposed to do something to patrick on rj's behalf that she failed to do? is that why he punished her? when rj said kristina would send her love, was he saying that kristina had failed rj and perhaps developed an affinity for patrick? so rj had to punish her? also, rj must hate this psychic mumbo jumbo and could hate kristina more because at least jane knew he was faux.

i don't think jane cheated. i love playing with the idea. but it doesn't work with the jane brand imo. he can sleep with lorelei and shoot timothy carter and still be jane. i don't think the character has the elasticity to be a philanderer. the center would not hold.my impression is that jane was already alienated from carny life in the episode, throwing fire. when his father pressed cash into his hand ($100, $1,000?) and he shoved it in his pocket, i felt he was stashing it away to make his escape. maybe jane already knew angela and they got married as soon as they had the money together to leave. they could have been married awhile before they had charlotte. perhaps when jack hellion opened for jane at that show, jane was already married to angela.

bonaduz•March 21, 2013 07:12

That's how I see it: Jane and Angela were carnys. They fell in love and decided to leave that life. I assume it was mostly Angela's idea and she got Jane exited about it too. The two of them started a new life in the "outside" world, where they probably were isolated at first, just had themselfs and then the baby. I could imagine, that this 'outsider' existance welded them strongly together as a family. Jane kept his Mentalist gig going, because he really couldn't see himself doing anything else and that caused tension at home. But I think that the bonds were strong enough to hold him true to his family. He had left too much behind (friends, family, lifestyle) to screw up the only thing that he really loved now.Yes, Fugue in Red Jane was a horn-dog, but I think that was a part of his personality that he never lived, a part he maybe could have become due to different circumstances. Just my 2 Cents! Now I'll go to bed!

Watcher•March 21, 2013 06:32

He can control his sex drive now...but he has gone through a severe trauma, including a stint in a mental hospital. That could impact things quite a bit. And fugue Jane seemed like quite a horn dog to me - granted we can't be sure how close that was to pre-RJ Jane, but it had to come from somewhere. He hit on every female he came in contact with. And even now, while he doesn't hit on anyone, he offers no resistance when a woman gets right up in his face (Erica, Lorelei). I'm not saying he necessarily cheated, but I am saying I would not be surprised if I found out he did

bonaduz•March 21, 2013 06:14

@rationalgal - I like the FBI theorie. We should put that question on @Huisclothes list as well. Is Jane involved with the FBI to find RJ?'Night all!

bonaduz•March 21, 2013 06:10

@rationalgal - after some more thinking, I have to agree with you. The temptation was there for sure, but the love to his family was stronger. And as you also point out, he was/is quite able to control his sex drive. What did Bosco whisper to him? I think Jane told Lisbon at least some of the truth when he said, that Bosco wanted him to take care of her. He might not have told her everything, but that much I believe was true. (Or maybe I just want it to be true??) :-)

rationalgal•March 21, 2013 05:44

I don't think it has ever been discloed what Bosco whispered to Jane just as he died. It surely has something to do with the plot. Maybe something that supports my suspicion that Jane (in his 70% he's not disclosing) is working with the FBI to find RJ. Just rewatched Red Brick & Ivy where Lisbon notes his mental breakdown is not in his record and Jane says It wasn't easy. So I'd say the FBI kept it out and only Minelli knew (as we saw in Red Dawn). So Bosco may have said something Jane needed to know about the FBI. As for Angela and Jane: With no evidence of cheating either way I have no reason to speculate about it. Jane's love for his family seems too genuine. That photo on the stair wall tells us they were a loving, happy family. Jane just couldn't stop the psychic thing, tho he hated himself for that. Also, he seems quite able to control his sex drive.